Hoping to change the negative perception some Long Island residents have about the growing Latino community, a pro-immigrant group there this week launched a new advertising campaign, financed by the Horace Hagedorn Foundation. The spots –one of which tries hard to be witty– began airing on Thursday in several Long Island cable stations.

Interestingly, one of the spots revolves around pupusas, as in the Salvadorean tortilla-like corn snack. The pitch? Immigrants contribute with an estimated $4.4 billion to Long Island’s economy. As the commercial states in the end: That’s a whole lot of pupusas.

Long Island Wins –

I don’t visit Spanish-language blogs, mainly because I don’t know many. But one recently caught my attention, especially because the recent publication of the following cartoon stirred many passions, mainly from Latin Americans living in the U.S.

What’s interesting though is that the author of the posting makes a good point: the above behavior is not exclusive to the United States; rather, he says, it’s the immigration policy of the fools.

Earlier this week Univision made headlines by inviting the presidential hopefuls from both parties to take part in what would become the nation’s first Spanish-language presidential debate. But as it turns out, most have either turned down the invitation or are still “checking their schedules.”

According to the Miami Herald, Hillary Clinton has said she will have to turn down the invitation. Tom Tancredo, who last year said Miami was a “thirld world country” has said he is definitely not attending.

In fact, only the two Democratic contenders fluent in Spanish — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut — committed to going to Miami in September for the debates.

I wonder if their command of the language was the deal breaker… That would be a terrific pitch for a Spanish tutor moving forward.

Tired of the immigration debate?

Patience, my friends. Very soon, many of those complaining about Mexicans taking over the U.S. will end up altogether moving out … to Mexico!

According to recent estimates by Mexico’s private sector, in less than a decade at least 20 million Americans will be living in Mexico, particularly in warm places such as the so-called Mayan Riviera (which by the way looks much more than the U.S. than Mexico, but that’s off the point.)

In a recent interview with Mexican news service Notimex, Roberto Velázquez García, president of real-estate firm Asesoría en Inversiones y Proyectos de Alta Tecnología, said in 10 years there will be approximately 60 million American retirees, out of which at least 20 million will be living in Mexico.

Only in 2008, 2 million Americans will set up home in Mexico, Velazquez said. “And this is only the beginning.”

I wonder how long it will take for these immigrants to take over the streets of San Miguel de Allende and Cancún, demanding better access to services in their language. (Oops… I forgot they already have that! Try finding a non-English speaker in Cancún or San Miguel).

I can only imagine a world of opportunities for Mexican entrepreneurs targeting American immigrants. Think Spanish Without Borders, tasteless, light, calorie-free beer, law firms specializing in injured Americans (How about 1-800-Margaret?), an all-English-language TV network and radio chain … endless possibilities! Perhaps, this is the work Mexicans have been waiting for to avoid crossing the border.

I’m telling you. It’s just a matter of time.